Happy Birthday Philip!

Today In History - Apollo 12 lifts off - November 14, 1969

Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the moon, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard F. Gordon, Jr.; and Alan L. Bean aboard. President Richard Nixon viewed the liftoff from Pad A at Cape Canaveral. He was the first president to attend the liftoff of a manned space flight.
- posted by Phil Yanov @ 5:27 AM

 

We Honor Those Who Served -
Veterans Day 2003

In 1921, an American soldier—his name “known but to God”—was buried on a Virginia hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, DC. The burial site of this unknown World War I soldier in Arlington National Cemetery symbolized dignity and reverence for America’s veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an “unknown soldier” of the Great War was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe).

These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I hostilities at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as “Armistice Day.”

Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar Congressional action. If World War I had indeed been “the War to end all wars,” November 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But in 1939, World War II broke out in Europe and shattered that dream. Of the 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II, more than 400,000 died.

“TO HONOR VETERANS OF ALL WARS”

Raymond Weeks of Birmingham, Ala., organized a "Veterans Day" parade for that city on November 11, 1947, to honor all of America's veterans for their loyal service. Later, U.S. Representative Edward H. Rees of Kansas proposed legislation changing the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all those who have served America in all wars.

In 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day, and called upon Americans everywhere to rededicate themselves to the cause of peace. He issued a Presidential Order directing the head of the Veterans Administration, now the Department of Veterans Affairs, to form a Veterans Day National Committee to organize and oversee the national observance of Veterans Day. In addition to fulfilling that mission, the committee oversees the annual production and distribution of the Veterans Day Poster and this Veterans Day Teachers Resource Guide.

In 1968, Congress moved Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. However, it became apparent that the November 11 date was historically significant to a great many Americans. As a result, Congress formally returned the observance of Veterans Day to its traditional date in 1978. History of Veterans Day

“A SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD”
- posted by Phil Yanov @ 9:02 AM